TRAPPING MALE MOTHS OF GRAMMIA BLAKEI (GRT.) (LEPIDOPTERA: ARCTIIDAE) WITH FEMALE-BAITED TRAPS AT GROUND LEVEL

Abstract

Woolly-bear caterpillars of Grammia blakei (Grt.) are sometimes abundant in early spring on overgrazed native range pastures in southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, occasionally reaching population densities exceeding 50 per square metre (Byers 1988). Grammia blakei has a wide distribution in the Great Plains and Intermountain regions of western North America. Although the brownish-black caterpillars are quite often abundant, the moths (Fig. l), which are not attracted to food baits or light traps, have been rarely collected and few field-caught specimens are present in collections (D.C. Ferguson, U.S. National Museum, Washington, DC; J.D. Lafontaine, Biosystematics Research Centre, Ottawa, personal communication).